Newsgroups: comp.risks
From: cnorloff@tecnet1.jcte.jcs.mil
Date: Wed, 17 May 95 13:44:40 EDT
Microsoft officials confirm that beta versions of Windows 95 include a
small viral routine called Registration Wizard. It interrogates every
system on a network gathering intelligence on what software is being run
on which machine. It then creates a complete listing of both Microsoft's
and competitors' products by machine, which it reports to Microsoft when
customers sign up for Microsoft's Network Services, due for launch later
this year.
"In Short" column, page 88, _Information Week_ magazine, May 22, 1995
The implications of this action, and the attitude of Microsoft to plan
such action, beggars the imagination.
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An update on this. A friend of mine got hold of a copy of the beta test CD
of Win95, and set up a packet sniffer between his serial port and the
modem. When you try out the free demo time on The Microsoft Network, it
transmits your entire directory structure in background.
This means that they have a list of every directory (and, potentially every
file) on your machine. It would not be difficult to have something like a
FileRequest from your system to theirs, without you knowing about it. This
way they could get ahold of any juicy routines you've written yourself and
claim them as their own if you don't have them copyrighted.